Scituate Schools Face Tighter Budget, Plan Strategic Adjustments for FY26

District Forecasts 1.8% Increase, Down from 4% Last Year

SCITUATE, MA - November 4 - Scituate Public Schools is bracing for a leaner budget in fiscal year 2026, with an expected increase of only 1.8% compared to the 4% boost received last year. The district is now planning strategic adjustments to maintain staff and programs while navigating the financial constraints.

Dr. Thomas Raab, Director of Business and Finance, presented the budget outlook to the School Committee on Nov. 4. He emphasized the need for careful planning and potential belt-tightening measures.

"Next year is gonna require a little bit of belt tightening," Raab said. "We're nowhere near a situation where we need to panic. We can maintain the staff that we have. We're not looking to cut staff."

The district prepares a financial forecast, in collaboration with the Town’s finance team, which anticipates a $895,000 increase for FY26, which amounts to about half of last year's $1.7 million increase. This reduction comes at a challenging time as the district is negotiating with all six unions.

Raab outlined three main factors contributing to the tighter budget:

1. Changes in federal and state law regarding health insurance management for retirees.

2. Lower new growth in the town, certified at $795,000 compared to previous years' figures exceeding $1.6 million.

3. Increased enrollment at South Shore Regional Vocational Technical High School.

To address these challenges, the district is considering several strategies. These include evaluating all expense lines, potentially stretching large curriculum purchases over two years, and closely examining vacancies and retirements for potential savings.

"We can balance it. We can make it work, but it's just gonna require us to do some belt tightening and really be strategic in all of our thinking," Raab explained.

He assured the committee that despite the financial constraints, the district remains committed to honoring the community's $119.4 million investment in the new Hatherly Elementary School.

In response to the budget presentation, School Committee member Peter Gates noted the importance of understanding new growth's impact on the budget. He explained that new growth includes newly built houses and major renovations, which contribute to increased tax revenue.

"We're seeing it across the country that with interest rates higher, the economy may be changing, that we just don't have that new growth that we have enjoyed in the past," Gates said.

The next significant checkpoint in the budget process will be in January when chapter 70 funds and unrestricted government aid figures are released, along with finalized health insurance rates for FY26.

In a separate presentation, elementary curriculum coordinators Megan Gregory and Heather Allen detailed the district's comprehensive benchmarking and intervention system for elementary students.

The system assesses all K-5 students three times a year in math and literacy using a combination of one-on-one interview-based assessments and computer adaptive tests.

"For the interview-based assessment for math, we use universal screener for number sense and that's for grades K to four," Allen said. "This is a one-on-one interview that students are sitting down, they don't have to write anything. It's really just a conversation."

For literacy, the district employs DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills), which consists of one-minute oral probes focusing on predictive reading skills.

The data collected from these assessments informs the creation of WIN (What I Need) groups, providing targeted interventions for students at all levels.

"During those data meetings, you're gonna have really deep conversations, so it's gonna bring in benchmark data, but also teachers will talk about classroom data, and you're really talking about the whole student in these meetings," Allen explained.

The district is also working to integrate science and social studies into the literacy and math curriculum to maximize instructional time.

"We wanna make sure that science and social aids are integrated into those, because what we're finding is that the day is really short and we're not able to integrate science and social aids like we'd like," Allen said.

Looking ahead, the district plans to upload parent reports for DIBELS and STAR assessments to the ASPEN portal, allowing parents to see detailed breakdowns of their children's performance.